Last night we tasted Portuguese whites. It had been a while and I may have swayed the panel by saying "Portugual's good at reds, but their whites are generally disappointing" which dragged their expectation right down, so that the Sainsbury's Vinho Verde, which is £3.19 and comes in a Mateus Rose style bottle, tasted rather good.

You absolutely have to be in the right mood for Vinho Verde. It doesn't have the interest to match with food, unless perhaps half a grapefruit with a cherry in the middle, but as a summer aperitif, I imagine VV is a valid option.

Our favourite wine was Quinta de Azevedo 2008, which is £6.24/4.99 from Majestic or £5.99 from Waitrose and it was really rather lovely. Yes, both wines are pretty petillant, bordering on being downright sparkling, and low in alcohol (sains 9%, Azevedo 10.5%) but if the weather continues to improve, a chilled glass on the patio, after a hard day on your knees with natty little gloves on, could be just the thing.

Perhaps for a summer lunch in the garden.

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mel

Doing what exactly?

I have tried a few 'Green Wines' in the past but dont recall being overly impressed, will look out for the Quinta de Azevedo. The French like this particular wine and are the main export market for the Portguese.

Mel does aroma therapy


Mel is doing her borders. Well it's a hoe down for me, until the next crop of weeds rear their persistent heads.

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Duncan

Ah, that explains it

Perhaps we need a green-finger thread, Im very busy on my allotment at the moment.

Do any of you lot regularly enjoy a length of fresh veg?

Do any of you lot regularly enjoy a length of fresh veg

-=-

Mrs Goosegogs enjoys a nice big cucumber now and then....can't say I see the attraction myself.

Yep, my veg garden plot been organic since the millenium, except judicious use of slug bait . Mild Winters have cause a plague of bugs.

Now though, after a proper Winter, everything is set for quality. One of my specialities is those large Curly Tomatoes - the french Marmande bush variety. This year is going to be a great harvest of Raspberries and Runner Beans, Rocket and Asparagus. Hmmnn - the bugs have been dramatically reduced, and the subsoil is quite wet.
I have an ancient Newton Wonder and a William pear tree, both must be over a century, so they produce extraodinary tasting fruit. 2 x victoria plums as well. I will be sorry when I eventually leave here. The soil is excellent and I have tilled it for 20 years, the garden though is rather Victorian - quite long but fairly narrow, just the same as a traditional Allottments

There you have it GK, to be a gourmet, you either have very deep pockets, or you grow a lot of your own stuff and search out the exceptional wines to go with them. I have a vine in the front garden (A black Hamberg that is 25 years old and a Brown Turkey Fig of the same age. The fig will keep 5 families very regular for 4 weeks a year, it is a heavy cropper, that is anchored up against a warm south facing victorian wall

I've never been inside a Macdonalds.

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Duncan

Too true Dunc’s, although, my pockets aren’t deep my standards are still high. We are very fortunate where we live, there’s plenty of countryside to forage- a particular hobby of mine. Our larder is well stocked with jams and chutneys, all fruit coming from the surrounding lanes and fields, this also helps to make homemade wine, port & cider, plus the odd bottle of Sloe Gin (most of which I trade / give away).

We live next door to a smallholding and have access to an endless supply of duck & chuck eggs. My neighbour is a keen trout fisherman and regularly knocks with a fresh catch which is swiftly traded for a few pounds or some fresh pigeon / rabbit, depending on whether I have been out shooting that weekend.

In the nearby woods I know where to find oyster, velvet shank and several other tasty mushrooms, the field at the back of our house throws up plenty of fairy ring and the hedgerow at the bottom of my garden gives me an abundance of St Georges mushrooms every April, not long now. St Georges are my favourite wild mushroom and are delicious in an omelette.

My allotment plot is ten minute bike ride from my house, I grow what I can, the rest I buy from the old-boy who owns the site- he grows pretty much everything and sells it to the locals, his tomatoes are wonderful, just 50p a lb.

Throw in a decent butcher close by- we are fond of cooking with a slow-cooker, this enables us to buy the cheaper and often tastier meats such as brisket of beef, should of lamb- a good shoulder of lamb cooked for eight hours on low in the slow cooker with some fresh herbs from the garden beats any leg of lamb for flavour in my opinion.

And finally, you may already be aware I like a nice glass of wine to wash it all down with.

GK, I knew you may be 'there', it comes through in your writing. You are closer to the balanced way than me. You live in a more rural environment than we do here. We and some of our neighbours maintain a bit of an Oasis in what is termed as outer suburbia, just here is a small backwater.

Development north of us has removed the 11 acre fields that my children once played in. We are lucky to have large gardens, 25 years ago, cockerels woke us up in the morning. We have the benefit of a verry narrow wild life corridor recognised by the LA. Over the last 8 years or so, the developers have been pestering us, and keep offering increasingly large amounts of dosh for our gardens, and we tell them to P*** Off. The crunch may shut them up for a while.


By the sound of it GK, you and your Misses are set fair. Enjoy your forageing and your delicacies for free.
Better get back on topic Otherwise the lady of the house may have something to say !

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Duncan

I was out first thing this morning soaking all my seed trays and generally checking the state of the garden, muttering about the deer. Will be sowing grass seed later, on a new sloping bank I've built and I've still got about 1 ton (from a total of 4) of muck to spread. I moved all 4 tons on 22nd, 223rd and Christmas Eve from the front garden to the back.

I'm lucky enough to have summer truffles growing in my garden but this year will only be planting chard, tomatoes and herbs, as I'm opening the garden (medium sized town garden, nothing spectacular) in July for local open gardens weekend.

I too have another life.

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mel

I popped by the plot on the way home from work yesterday, I have two rows of sprout seeds that have just come through, standing almost an inch high.

Will need to protect them this weekend methinks, there's a frost a'cumin.

Mel- perhaps you could move this thread to another section under a different subject heading, gardening etc.?

GK, You've got two lots of protection to do - 1) Jack is predicted on Saturday night, even in South Oxfordshire - 2) Those pesky pigeons will peck-out the growing tip, unless you've got some sticks or fishing line running over the rows.

Get your gun, and then stew the pigeons if they comedown and take out the tops....It's the only way of getting your seed dosh back ! These flying wood rats have become a right pain in the preverbial here.

I need a red kyte buzzard of my own - the new housing at the back is too close now. It won't only be Sir Fred who gets busted windows !

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Duncan

I knew, those fancy frilly gloves gave it away. Moving fresh muck. Hey, you're a strong woman, may be I should lend you my old Contractors barrow !
Pete enjoying the view from the window. Now folks, you know where all that farmyard nuance comes from .

Mel's clogs, with their playfully chic exterior


I'm certain the RHS will forgive me for displaying their rose rubber wear !

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Duncan

I have a special fondness for Columba Palumbus...



Strangly, pigeons are not too much of a problem on our site, I have had peas & broad beans growing over winter and they nearly all made it through. Pigeons eat on looks not taste, they love peas but leave lots of other stuff that you would expect them to fill up on.

We do get rabbits though, pesky little critters, the site has a wire mesh running along the hedgerow that surrounds it but they occasionally find their way in. Unfortunately for them, they rarely find their way back out again. Their obvious distress troubles me and I have been know to invite several home for dinner.